Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Dili: Malaysia jumped from bottom to fourth spot in Group A of the FIFA World Cup 2018/AFC Asian Cup 2019 joint-qualifiers after beating Timor Leste 1-0 on Tuesday.
Amri Yahyah’s strike on 10 minutes at the Municipal Stadium was enough to clinch the Malaysians’ first win in five Group A matches and see them leapfrog Timor Leste in the five-team table.
The victory was welcome news to Malaysia after being accorded a 3-0 loss to Saudi Arabia after crowd incidents forced September's game to be abandoned on the 87th minute mark.
Ong Kim Swee-led Malaysia began their qualifying campaign with a 1-1 draw against the Timorese at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur.
The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots (12 slots or 11 slots + 1 slot for the host) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup.
NEXT FIXTURES:
November 12: Palestine v Malaysia
November 12: UAE v Timor Leste